The Risks and Countermeasures of Social Engineering in Ghanaian Universal Banks

Abstract

Ever since the evolution of banking, there have always been a number of unscrupulous individuals who have tried to breach its defenses in order to gain access to valuables. In the course of time, the physical attacks have become slowly less necessary because banking has steadily gained an online presence. Formerly, it was impossible to authorize a transaction through a mobile phone using the Internet. However, now that is more than possible, it is an extremely popular way of having transactions. As a result, security within financial institutions has shifted focus from physical to virtual measures. The most important component of a good financial IT security infrastructure is security Karishma (2010). In this scenario, the need for ensuring that information is kept confidential, adhering to accepted norms of privacy and making it available to authorized users at the appropriate time, assumes great significance. This is particularly valid for the banking sector where day-to-day operations are centered on information and information processing, which in turn is highly dependent on technology. Banking as a business involves the management of risks based on a repository of trust extended by the customers, If this objective has to be accomplished, it becomes imperative for all security concerns especially customer sensitive data to be addressed in an effective way so as to ensure that the trust levels are well preserved and information assets perform the role that they are supposed to according to Chakrabarty (2010). The research conducted on the Ghanaian banks concerning information security breaches within the banking and financial institutions has shown that majority of the banks are very much concerned with both internal and external security breaches and also all the Ghanaian banks have in one way or the other experienced information security breaches before, according to Tobin and Danquah (2011).The current and the future bank institution in Ghana need to provide social engineering measures to secure their information and that of their customers. Because a lot off banks in Ghana and Nigeria has being attacked unaware due to the social engineering effect, this research investigates social engineering effect in Ghanaian Banks, and also identifies how Information and Communication Technology is managed. It also creates awareness on social engineering and it countermeasures of stakeholders, Contributes to development of policy to enhance and secure quality banking.

Keywords: Information Security , Social Engineering , Countermeasures, Creation of Awareness, Mitigation.